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beat yourself up! formula is not ok! ok no but REALLY i promise it gets better and easier and rewarding! hang in there, you're doing the best you can and so is she!

Breastfeeding has been the hardest thing I've done in my life. We are still having some pain at almost 4 months. I still just take it one nursing session at a time. I never wake up thinking "today is the day we stop nursing!" I do hope it gets better for you! A saw our IBCLC 6 times and the hands on time was invaluable. It sounds like you're doing a great job, keep at it!

I've been there. It's awful. We basically spent everyday alternating between the pedi office (for weight checks) and the lactation consultants office. In the end we were successful, but it took about 8 weeks for us to settle in. I hope the same for you. I'm rooting for you guys!

I'm sorry! It took me a long time to get over not being able to EBF due to low supply. Hopefully you won't have that issue.

Nursing will get easier. You will get the ties taken care of (do that asap cause it can cause bad latch habits). Your baby will eventually not fall asleep while nursing (though you may wish she would in a month!). Or maybe you'll bottle feed. Either way your baby will love it. You'll work hard and she'll grow strong.

I currently have my 12 week old asleep on my chest. He drinks more formula than breast milk, but he still loves nursing. The guilt and stress eases up eventually. I'm doing the best I can, and you will too

It gets better! I have a 30 weeker that was a sleepy lazy eaterwith a tongue tie(no lip tie) it takes time but gets better sometimes you will notice a difference by 1 day and sometimes a week. She is 4 months (8 weeks adjusted ) and she is way better. Not as good as her brother but I notice she is gaining without having to have a bottle of pumped breastmilk every feed. It is frustrating but keep at it. I dont know how old your lo is now but thats my experience so far.

So sorry to hear about another struggle for you. I will say nursing my LO1 was awful at first but once it started going well, all the tears were worth it. I can also commiserate as I am looking at a future of exclusively pumping for LO2 who can't latch and I am so sad about the idea of not getting to nurse him. Hugs!

Breastfeeding is one of the hardest things I've ever done. It took 10 weeks for us to get our issues sorted out. I found setting myself small benchmarks to get to helped. They were usually every 2 weeks and I would push through until that point, then have a discussion with anyone who would listen and talk through what I wanted to do next (set another 2 week bench mark, or switch to formula). What tended to happen is I would look back on the two weeks and see that there had been enough improvement that it was worth it to see what the next two weeks brought. DD is 18 weeks now and things are going really well. I'm sorry you're struggling. I can totally commiserate!

I had a solid eight weeks of painful nursing despite a tongue and lip tie laser treatment at around two weeks old. It was horrible. I have no idea why I did not quit. I was nursing (painfully) during the day and setting the alarm to pump at night while my husband slept in another room and bottle fed the baby. I wanted to throw my pump out the window. I questioned why I had even bothered to have a baby in the first place. I didn't even feel like I was bonding with my baby. I just had this irrational, completely un-researched visceral anti-formula, anti-corporation feeling, and I never got past it. (Note: I DEFINITELY do not judge people for using formula. This was just how I felt for myself and my baby.)

Then the pain randomly stopped, and all of a sudden I could grab the baby in the middle of the night and sit calmly in the dark in the glider instead of dealing with the evil pump and equipment and labels and storage. And my husband got to sleep through the night. It was amazing, and it was so much calmer and therefore easier to fall back asleep.

After that I still hated pumping at work, and nursing was still a demanding 24/7 job, but it also meant no equipment/supplies and an automatic baby silencer/nap inducer. Honestly, I think it's a zero sum game. In hindsight, I still don't know if it was worth it. But I am secretly proud of myself for making it through.

Hang in there, and it's ok to feel like it sucks (npi) because it DOES! And it's very demanding. It's a marathon, not a sprint, so you need to take the long view.

Have you thought about using a nipple shield? Full disclosure: I wish we hadn't done the nipple shield for the first 10 weeks and things got so much better once we got rid of it. BUT, my twins were small (4 lb 15 oz and 5 lb 15 oz) and sleepy/lazy latchers and it really helped speed things up when we'd start nursing instead of messing around perfecting the latch. It was just much easier for their tiny mouths. I know your LO was early but not sure how small she is. In the end, kicking the nipple shield habit was better for my supply, but I do think it helped keep them from getting frustrated in the early days. Good luck, mama. You're really doing a great job! Also, much love to you on R's birthday.

You can do it. When I had DS, I couldn't believe the pain I was experiencing, (it felt like I was getting stabbed with knives every time he latched), but I had a friend tell me if I could just make it through like another week, it would be fine. I couldn't believe her, but I did push past the pain and I ended up nursing a year. Then I had another baby and am still nursing at 17 month.

DS was so sleepy all the time too, which led to me just having to keep him on my boob for what seemed like 24/7 and pretty much was. Good thing is that it doesn't last forever.

Keep the faith, you can do it.